cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/4658537

Why This Award-Winning Piece of AI Art Can’t Be Copyrighted::Matthew Allen’s AI art won first prize at the Colorado State Fair. But the US government has ruled it can’t be copyrighted because it’s too much “machine” and not enough “human.”

  • Encromion@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    I think it’s obvious that AI created art isn’t copyrightable based on current law - but the AI prompts are! I think it’s interesting to think about what should be done about the situation and how we should analogize it. Is AI like a paintbrush? Is it like a slave? Is it like an elaborate machine? Most artistic output is copywritable regardless of the machinery used to create it, but a slaves art is not copywritable by its master. But a computer program creating art - if it’s not AI, is THAT art copywritable?

    It’s a fun thought exercise.

  • imaqtpie@sh.itjust.worksOP
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    1 year ago

    Personally, I think it’s reasonable to deny copyright for AI generated work, largely due to the fact that it protects professional artists. I think if corporations were able to copyright AI art, the artistic community would enter a rapid and potentially irreversible decline.

    That being said, I do acknowledge that logically, there is not much difference between a digital artist and an AI artist. Neither of them could produce anything of value without their software of choice.

    • Skiv@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      That being said, I do acknowledge that logically, there is not much difference between a digital artist and an AI artist. Neither of them could produce anything of value without their software of choice.

      Uh, no. The vast majority of skills utilized by digital artists apply across any software and with analog tools as well just as we’ve used them for hundreds of years. They are quite capable of producing similar works without digital tools at all. You cannot say the same for someone refining a prompt for a piece of software that scrapes everything from other people’s creativity.

      The closest analog would be an art director for a collage project. That is what an AI artist does.

      • imaqtpie@sh.itjust.worksOP
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        1 year ago

        They are quite capable of producing similar works without digital tools at all.

        I think this is probably true for some digital artists, but certainly not all.

        The closest analog would be an art director for a college project. That is what an AI artist does.

        That’s a fair point, but I would counter that being an art director is not a job that most people could do. It may require less technical skill (like AI art), but it still requires a significant body of knowledge and highly developed artistic sensibilities.

        I get your point that it’s demeaning to compare the training and skills of a digital artist to an AI artist, but I wish it didn’t come with the implication that any idiot could create good AI art.

        Also I was going to correct your spelling of analogue, but it turns out the slang version has become official, at least for American English. I would still recommend using analog when you’re talking about electronics, and analogue when you’re talking about something that is analogous, because I think it makes you sound more smarter 😅

        https://grammarist.com/spelling/analog-analogue/

        • Skiv@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          because I think it makes you sound more smarter 😅

          Brilliant. I don’t give a damn what you’d recommend, you’re a pedant who’s clearly out of their depth.

          What are analog tools? Strictly speaking, these are tools that don’t use electricity. They don’t require user manuals, and are easy to use.

          Like pencils and brushes you dolt.

          Any idiot can create AI art. That’s the whole point. I have yet to see anything good or interesting come out of it because you’re right, not every idiot can be an art director. AI just let’s them think they’re doing any of the work and “good” is subjective.

          Speaking as an art director, and a digital artist who actually knows what they’re talking about: it is true for all working artists. Your concept only holds true for kids dabbling in technology with no background in art. They might make digital art, but they are not digital artists.

              • thecrotch@sh.itjust.works
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                1 year ago

                Ironic you’re telling me to cry about it, you’re like 15 paragraphs deep bitching and moaning about AI generated art. If you’re that worried about being replaced, that tells me your art sucks.

          • imaqtpie@sh.itjust.worksOP
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            1 year ago

            Haha. It seems like you’re very insecure about your profession and you’re choosing to lash out instead of examining your own feelings more honestly. Sorry to burst your bubble, don’t shoot the messenger 🫣

            You also don’t seem to understand what I was saying.

            What are analog tools? Strictly speaking, these are tools that don’t use electricity. They don’t require user manuals, and are easy to use.

            Like pencils and brushes you dolt.

            That’s correct, that is the proper usage.

            The closest analog would be an art director for a collage project.

            Here, you’re using the word to mean something completely different. Hence why it is preferable to use analogue

            • Skiv@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              No, you’re just talking out your ass and trying to claw back a win for yourself by pulling out grammar rules and now trying again to avoid addressing anything of substance I’ve said. Take your L and sit down.

              AI as it exists is commercially useless. I speak from experience because of course we looked at it immediately. It may grow into something actually useful for production work but that will never happen so long as it’s pulling everything from the internet - no studio or art director worth their weight will accept the legal risk or the indirect volatility of AI generated art when they can just tap Derek to make the exact requested adjustment directly. The very thing that allows people to feel like they are artists for using it is exactly why it cannot become a viable tool and this article shows exactly why.

              This will hold true until a tool is developed isolated from the wider internet and only fed with your studio’s original material OR the copyright laws get ratfucked by someone with more economic might than individual artists.

              • imaqtpie@sh.itjust.worksOP
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                1 year ago

                Keep telling yourself that, it seems to be working.

                You haven’t said much of substance, you’ve just made your bias abundantly clear, so it’s pointless for me to continue arguing when I already know where your bread is buttered.

                I was only trying to explore this topic from an objective, intellectual standpoint, but you seem to feel as if I am challenging your livelihood, so I will recuse myself.

                • Skiv@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  Not at all, I’ve laid out reasons for why:

                  1. Your suppositions are incorrect, sorry to be the messenger, but my working understanding of my career definitely does outweight your “I think” in regard to what my peers do for a living.

                  2. AI is not as viable as people want to believe it is (yet, at least) which happen to be the very same reasons behind the lack of copyright viability and why commercial teams are not using it. Because anyone working in the industry who has experienced these tools or put out any actual product is already laughing at how obvious it is. The courts are right, and the discussion is about how AI works and why it does not. Not “should it tho?”

                  You on the other hand, opened with an attempt to shut down my working experience with suppositions because I contradicted you, belittlement and attempts to claim intellectual superiority (by hilariously being wrong on both counts) then when called out, you tried to swing everything to your interpretation of how someone must feel if they’re telling you you’re wrong and dumb for thinking that was an “intellectual exploration” of the topic at hand.

                  I knew I was talking to a fool, but damn. This is impressive.

                  There is no bias to have, AI as it exists is not a viable tool for commercial use, it rightfully does not meet the requirements to be copyrighted. Your apparent interest in denying that truth seems to be the root of this projection.

                  My livelihood is not at risk. At worst I’ll be tasked with laying out what my team will need to populate our own in-house AI in order for them to utilize it for low priority bulk assets. The chances it would be used for anything of importance are very low because it’s just another route to a goal we can already achieve easily.

                  So at worst, my job is even more secure and all I have to do is spend a week getting paid for adding yet another tool to my set. None of my teams livelihoods are at risk either because we all understand the parts AI and a prompt engineer will not know could or should be described. If they did, they’d understand that writing and editing prompts out is slower than just doing the work directly.

            • Skiv@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Here, you’re using the world to mean something completely different. Hence why it is preferable to use analogue

              No, I use the world to live on. Your entire argument is now invalid, oh shit.

              I used the word analog because we’re still talking about an electronic tool vs not electronic set of things.